Ax and similar tool



G. H. FRASER.

AX AND SIMlLAR TOOL.

APPLICATION mu) MAR. 4 1915. RENEWED APR. 2. 1920.

1,364,269. at t d an. 4, 1921.

UNITED STATES GEORGE HOLT FRASER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AX AND SIMILAR TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4-, 1921.

Application filed March 4, 1915, Serial No. 12.063. Renewed April 2, 1920. Serial No. 370,896.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon Horn Fnnsnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Axes and Similar Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to axes and similar tools of the type having a poll or handle portion and a bit or edge portion.

Tools of this class all have heretofore been made either in one piece or with a re movable bit separably connected to the poll.

This invention relates more particularly to axes of the removable bit type, and aims to provide certain improvements therein, to the end that the bit and poll may be better secured together, more readily separated, and more easily and economically manufactured, then heretofore.

To this end in carrying out the preferred adaptation of my invention, I provide the bit and poll with improved interengaging provisions for holding them together, improved provisions for resisting distortion of the parts, and improved means for preventing their accidental separation, and I provide certain other features ofimprovement, all of which will be more fully hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whieh,-

Figure l is a side elevation of a removable bit ax constructed according to the preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation thereof;

Fig. 3' is a front end elevation thereof;

Fig. -ii is a vertical longitudinal section of the poll showing the bit in elevation in position thereon, the view being out approximately on the line let of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation ofthe poll alone;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the bit alone;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-section cut on the line 7-7 and showing the interlocking faces of the poll and bit in section;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of the poll alone cut on the same line as F ig. a and. looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of the bit alone.

Referring to the drawings, let A indicate the poll or driving portion, and B the bit or working portion, of a tool, of which C is the front end, D is the rear end, E are the sides, F is the head or hammer edge, and G is the blade or cutting edge. The cell usually has a tapering eye or socket for attachment to the handle 2), shown in Fig. 1.

As thus far described the parts may be of any usual or suitable construction. The poll is usually constructed with a soft steel or iron body I between the bit and the handle socket, with thin walls or wings J surrounding the socket, and with a hard head F welded to or forming part of these walls. The bit is usually constructed with a soft body portion K, to the lower part of which is welded either an overlaid or an inserted piece of tool steel which is hardened to serve as the cutting edge G. The bit" and poll as thus formed are usually ground to the desired shape and taper for the tool, and in removable-bit axes the attaching provisions have been provided in the soft metal body portions I and K by constructing these with interlocking tongue and groove faces for preventing separation of the parts, while permitting the bit to be slid longitudinally rearward to disengage these faces upon removal of a lock.

According to the preferred form of my lilvention. the com olementar )illbS of the tool are each constructed with a pair of oppo sitely acting divergently inclined wedge faces extending longitudinally preferably throughout their length, which reciprocally interengage and wedge tightly together as the bit is moved forwardly on the poll, their inclination being such that the divergence of the interlocking faces is in the direction of the working blow of the an, so that they respectively receive the impact of the blow, and resist the strain of releasing the ax after a cut, and these faces are free to travel on one another until a firm seating of the parts is effected and approximately perpendicularly of these faces the parts are formed with intcrengaging overlra-nging faces or shoulders extending longitudinally and preferably in parallelism, and mutually reinforcing each part from the other to prevent expansive or sidewise distortion of either, and means are adjust-ably connected to one of the parts and act longitudinally against the other to move or hold them longitudinally in position.

Preferably the poll is provided with a lon gitudinal groove L bifurcating its edge from rear to front, and comprising an enlarged recess M, a contracted throat or slot N, and a wide mouth or outlet 0. The recess M is suitably formed as by drilling a cylindrical hole longitudinally through the body I, preferably at a slight angle to the handle socket, and as large in diameter as the thickness of the body will safely permit. The throat N is sufficiently narrow to leave one or more internal shoulders P, preferably one at each side of the recess M, and the mouth 0 is wider than the outlet and preferably narrower than the socket. The flanges or sides of the poll at each side of the groove L are inclined relatively to the shoulders P, and preferably diverge therefrom from the rear toward the front, constituting wedge faces Q.

Preferably the bit is formed with a projection or tongue R extending longitudinally of its upper edge, which tongue comprises a relatively wide head S, a narrow neck T, and a body U. The head S preferably has one or more overhanging faces or shoulders V beneath which are narrow grooves W, preferably parallel with the shoulders V, and equally disposed at each side of the neck T, and the body ll extends downwardly from this groove and is preferably of the same width as the head. At the lower end of the body preferably at each side, is a face or shoulder X inclined relatively to the face V at the same inclination longitudinally as that of the shoulders N and faces Q, of the poll and these faces respectively are disposed, so that the head S of the tongue may be slid in the recess M of the groove and move longitudinally therein until the faces X of the bit seat firmly on the faces Q of the poll, and the faces V of the head acting against the faces P of the socket will draw the parts together until the faces Q and X seat tightly, the neck T serving as a tension member for holding the parts together, and the wings Y of the poll serving as compression members for transmitting the impact from the bit to the head.

'lo mutually reinforce the parts against distortion or expansion sidewise, I prefer to form them with laterally acting interengaging faces, preferably by constructing the poll with an external face a on each side, and the bit with an internal face I) at each side of its inclined seat or face X, which faces are parallel longitudinally of these parts and preferably extend from rear to front thereof approximately perpendicular of the impact faces Q and X. Asshown, the wings Y of the poll are formed with a narrow tongue 0 on the outer side of which the side face a is formed, and with a shoulder or seat cl above this face, and the bit is formed with a nar row lip or projection e on each side on the inner side of which its compressive face 6 is formed, which lip has an edge f fitting the shoulder d, the lip and shoulder being parallel with the inclined impact faces, so that on each side of the tongue the bit has a narrow recess, and on each side of the groove the poll has a narrow lip fitting this recess. a To insure a smooth joint along the wedging faces, irrespective of the longitudinal travel of the bit before seating, I prefer to construct the bit and poll with a straight parallel portion Z on each side wide enough to include the angularity of the joint between the faces d and 7, which avoids the danger of any overhang at these points.

For holding or adjusting the bit in the poll, I prefer to tap a screwthread 9 into the rear end of thesocket M and screw therein a screw it which bears against a shoulder t on the bit, the rear edge of which is preferably notched out at y' to give sufficient clearance for the screw to catch the threads.

The grooves, faces, tongues and recesses may be formed in any suitable way, but I prefer to drill the socket M and then inill out the throat and mouth of the groove L, and the faces Q, 0 and d on the poll. To facili tate doing this at one operation, the inclination of the faces Q is preferably such that in its longitudinal extension it will not ex ceed the diameter of the socket, so that a milling cutter in starting can utilize the width of the hole as clearance in cutting the taper. To permit this the internal lip k under the faces P is narrow at the rear and wide toward the front. To allow the bit to enter the socket without being obstructed by this lip is, I prefer to make the grooves W in the tongue of the bit wider than the widest part of the lip and parallel with the clamping faces V of the head S. I prefer to roll or mill these grooves and the head at the same time, reducing the head S and the neck T to the width necessary, and preferably forming the head with a holding rib Z by which it may be held and centered during the operation of forming the inclined faces of the bit, which are preferably formed by a gang miller which fits over the sides of the head S and cuts the side walls m, seats X, and lips e to the desired width and angularity. The side walls m of the tongue and 'n of the groove and of the lips c of the 115 poll and of the lips Z) of the bit are preferably parallel to afford uninterrupted longitudinal passages, and are preferably vertical to afford stops perpendicular to any transverse strains for resisting these.

Preferably an elastic or gravity lock or catch is used either for preventing loosening of the screw it or for itself preventing loosening of the parts, such for example as indicated in Fig. l, in which a 125 spring-catch o swiveled to the handle 77 by staples g is shown as swinging into the path of rearward travel of the tongue R and snapping into the notch r of the screw h.

In operation to apply a bit, its front end 1 will be inserted in the rear end of the poll, the head S of the tongue being slid into the socket M, in which it will travel freely until the wedging impact faces meet. lhe reinforcing faces will interlock before the W6C ging faces meet and will insure proper positioning of the wings before the parts are clamped tightly together. When the bit has been inserted the screw it will be screwed in until the bit is forced tightly home, whereupon the axe can be used as freely and roughly as a solid-head ax. To tighten a bit the screw may be set up tighter or the front of the poll may be hammered until the bit is drawn tightly home. To release a bit the screw will be removed and the rear of the poll hammered until the bit frees itself.

In use, the faces P of the poll and V of the bit will constitute clamping faces, the faces Q of the poll and X of the bit will serve as impact faces, and the faces a and b will act as reinforcing or retaining faces, which in connection with the supporting faces m of the bit and 'n of, the poll will prevent either collapsing or bulging of the necessarily thin side wings Y of the poll.

It will be seen that this invention pro vides improvements which can be readily and advantageously availed of, and it will be understood that the invention is not limited to use with a tool having a single Working portion nor to the particular details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts set forth as constituting its preferred form, since it can be employed in Whole or in part according to such uses or modifications as circumstances or the judgment of those skilled in the art may dictate, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is 1. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and working or hit portion having a working edge and scp arably carried by the said poll portion, one of said parts having a longitudinal groove or recess and oppositely acting wedging faces diverging toward said working edge, and the other of said parts having a tongue or projection sliding in said groove or recess and having longitudinally extending oppositely acting wedging faces reciprocal to and engaging said first mentioned wedg ing faces for holding said parts together, and one of said parts having an internal screw thread, and a screw engaging said thread and acting longitudinally against the other of said parts for positioning said parts longitudinally of one another.

2. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a longitudinal socket having a clamping face and an impact face relatively inclined longitudinally of it and diverging toward said working edge, and the other of said parts having oppositely acting reciprocal faces engaging said first mentioned faces for separably connecting said parts together, and each of said parts having an external flat wall parallel with the longitudinal extension of said faces and of a width equaling their relative divergence.

In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a working or bit portion having a working edge and sep arably connected to said poll portion, said parts respectively having two oppositely acting wedging faces extending longitudinally thereof and diverging toward said edge and reciprocally engaging for clamping said parts together, one of said parts free to slide longitudinally of the other of said parts to seat said wedging faces, and one of said parts having a projecting side wall or portion intermediate of its wedging faces, and the other of said parts having a recessed side wall or portion intermediate of its wedging faces, said side walls or portions extending longitudinally in a plane parallel with the longitudinal movement of said parts and aifording uninterrupted ways for their free longitudinal movement to seat said wedging faces.

4. ln combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a. working or bit portion having a working edge and separably connected to said poll portion, said parts each having oppositely acting longitudinally extending wedging faces diverging toward said working edge and an intermedi ate wall or portion affording an uninterrupt ed way permitting one of said parts to slide freely longitudinally of the other of said parts to seat said wedging faces to clamp said parts together to resist stress in the dimotion of said working edge, and said parts each having an abutment or face extending longitudinally of said wedging faces and extending and interengaging in a plane approximately parallel with the direction of said working stress for preventing transverse distortion of said parts.

5. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a socket extending longitudinally through it, a notch or recess communicating with said socket, and oppositely acting wedging faces extending longitudinally of it and diverging toward said working edge, and the other of said parts having a tongue or projection extending longitudinally of it and sliding in said socket and recess and having oppositely acting longitudinally extending wedging faces reciprocal to and engaging said faces of the other of said parts for clamping said parts together to resist stress in the direction of said working edge, parts having adjacent walls intermediate of their wedging faces extending parallel with their direction of relative longitudinal movement and alfording uninterrupted ways for their free relative movement to permit seating of said wedging faces.

6. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or bit portion havinga working edge, said parts each ravine; slidingly enlongitudinally extending reciprocal intercngaging weep, ng faces diverging toward said working edge for clamping said parts together to stress in the direction of said working edge, and said parts respectively hzwinglongitudinally extending slidingly engaging overlapping abutting faces extending and overlapping in a plane approximately parallel with the direction of the wedging action and approximately perpendicular to the direction of stress transverse to the direction of working stress for resisting such transverse stress.

7. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, said poll portion having a longitudinal socket openingtoward said edge and having reversely acting wedging faces extending longitudinally of it and d'verging toward said edge, and said bit portion having a longitudinal projection sliding in said socket and having reversely acting wedging faces reciprocal to and engaging said first mentioned faces for clamping parts to gether to resist a working stress in the direction of said edge, and said parts respectively having overlapping faces extending longitudinally of said wedging faces, parallel with the direction of relative movement of said parts, at each side of said socket and overlapping" in a plane approximately parallel with the direction of working' stress interengaging to resist stress perpendicular thereto.

8. In combination, in axes and other tools, a drivingor poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, said poll portion having a longitudinal slot or recess opening toward said edge and having oppositely acting longitudinally extending impact and clamping faces diverginp; toward said edge, and a longitudinally extending lip or projeztion at each side of said slot or recess, and said bit or portion having a tongue or projection sliding in said slot or recess and having oppositely acting longitudinally extending impact and clamping faces reciprocal to and engaging said mentioned faces for connecting said parts to resist a working stress in the direction of said edge, and having; a longitudinally extending groove at each side of said tongue or projection having a longitudinal wall outwardly of and engaging the outer side of said lip in a plane approximately parallel with the direction of said working stress for resisting stress transversely of said direction.

9. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a longitudinally extending recess having a narrow opening in the direction of said edge and having oppositely acting longitudinally extending wedginp; faces diverging in the direction of said edge and having at each side of said opening an internal lip intermediate of said faces, and the other of said parts having a longitudinally extending tongue or projection having a large head entering said recess, and a narrow neck having parallel side walls and entering said narrow opening, and having oppositely acting, wedging faces diverging in the direction of said edge and reciprocal to, and engaging said first mentioned wedging faces for connecting said parts together, said tongue or projection having on each side a portion affording a groove or recess intermediate of its opposed wedging faces, having throughout its length a parallel width equaling the maximum divergence of said opposed wedging faces, for receiving said lips respectively.

10. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or bit portion having a working edg one of said parts having a socket ex; tendinglongitudinally through it having a narrow opening in the direction of said edge having longitudinally extending side walls and having oppositely acting longitudinally extending wedging faces diverging toward said edge and disposed in different transverse planes one outside of the other, and the other of said parts having a longitudinal projection sliding freely in said socket hav ing oppositely acting wedging faces reciprocal to and engaging said first mentioned wedging faces and having a narrow portion intermediate of its wedging faces having longitudinally extending parallel side walls spaced inwardly of the outer of said wedging faces opposite said side walls of the other of said parts and affording throughout their width an uninterrupted way for free longitudinal sliding of said parts relatively of each other to seat said wedging faces.

11. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or hit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a socket or recess extending longitudinally of its opening; toward said edge and having; oppositely cting longitudinally extending wedging faces diverging toward said edge, and the 1 ,seeneo other of said parts having a longitudinally extending tongue or projection sliding in said socket or recess and having reversely acting longitudinally extending wedge faces reciprocal to and engaging said first men tioned wedging faces for clamping said parts together to resist a working stress in the direction of said edge, said socket or recess and said tongue or projection having; adjacent faces spaced apart in the direction of said stress and affording a clearance between them in the direction of the wedging action for permitting said parts to slide freely longitudinally to effect aseating of said wedging faces.

12. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or bit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a longitudinal socket or recess opening toward said edge and having reversely acting wee ging faces extending longitudinally of it and diverging toward said edge, and the other of said parts having a tongue or projection sliding in said socket or recess and having reversely acting Wedge faces reciprocal to and engaging said first mentioned face for clamping said parts together to resist a working stress in the direction of said edge, said parts respectively having adjacent walls or faces intermediate of said wedging faces spaced apart in the direction of the wedging action and affording a clearance in the direction of said stress for permitting said wedging faces to freely seat irrespective of said adjacent faces.

13. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, a separable working or hit portion having a working edge and longitudinally extending reversely acting wedging portions or projections sliding longitudinally of said poll portion for clamping said parts together, one of said parts carrying a screw thread extending longitudinally of their direction of relative movement, and a screw screwing longitudinally of said parts and acting to slide one longitudinally of the other.

lat. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or bit portion having a working edge and sliding longitudinally of the other of said parts, said parts having longitudinally extending interengaging sliding portions or projections for clamping them together, and a movable spring connected to said poll portion and projecting into and removable from the path of movement of said bit portion for preventing accidental sliding separation of said parts.

15. In combination, in axes and other tools, a driving or poll portion, and a separable working or bit portion having a working edge, one of said parts having a longitudinal groove comprising a relatively wide inner socket, a relatively narrow throat communicating outwardly therefrom, and a relatively wide mouth communicating between said throat and its outer edge, and having inwardly and outwardly of said throat longitudinally extending reversely inclined wedging faces diverging toward said edge, and the other of said parts slidingly engaging said part and having a longitudinally extending projection comprising a relatively wide head entering said socket, a relatively narrow neck entering said throat, and a relatively wide body entering said mouth, and having longitudinally extending wedging faces inwardly and outwardly of said neck diverging toward said edge and reciprocal to and engaging said first men tioned wedging face for wedging said parts together in the direction of stress from said edge.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE HQLT FRASER.

Witnesses:

S. G. HnLLnM, GUsTAv ScHonHnrr. 

